Long Island is the beginning of the out-islands of the Bahamas. It is about 165 miles from Nassau with one long road stretching 80 miles down the island. The Tropic of Cancer passes directly through the northern part of the island, which has a very versatile landscape with high hills, rocky terrain and lowlands of marsh. There are tons of beaches, reefs and several blue holes including the largest, Deans Blue Hole (665 feet deep).

The first thing we needed to deal with were provisions. Basically everything was on empty so we needed diesel, propane, gas, water and food. We also wanted to pick up a few things at the hardware store, like extra fuel filter and a new flag since our old one has been shredded beyond recognition.

We first landed on shore at the old dinghy dock, which is also near the Tourism office and gas station. This dock looked as if it was under major re-construction after the devastation of Hurricane Joaquin. We learned later that this dock isn’t quite ready for use, but the workers let us stop since we only had to get things at the gas station. This dock was also almost 2 miles from our anchorage, which is the furthest we’ve attempted to dinghy. Thankfully there is a dock much closer used by cruisers.

We spent our days walking about the town around Thompson Bay. While the buildings were small and rough-looking they were in much better shape than those of other islands. At least in this area. The grocery store was small but had a very good variety of food; I would say even better than George Town. The streets were lined with gorgeous greenery and flowers of all kinds. We would often get distracted during certain errands by butterflies or roosters walking about.

The best thing about Long Island is the people. They are all so nice and generous without any thought of themselves. They do not seem to be affected by tourists or greed or anything that comes when money is introduced into an environment causing inequality amongst its inhabitants. Life is more simple here. And more beautiful!

Evenings tended to be more calm than not. Mosquitos would come out as well as sand flies, but we were pretty far from shore so we didn’t have too much of a problem. That is when it wasn’t stormy and raining.

Long Island has a “Cruiser’s Net” on the VHF every morning. This is a short broadcast made by locals and cruisers in the area divulging information on the weather and other happenings in and around town. One of the benefits of the net is the ability to interact with other cruisers if you need something or just to be social. There is also an organization of work parties to help with the areas that were most affected by the hurricane. Every morning we would listen and gather much needed insight about the island.

After about 4 days in the anchorage, we were going a little stir crazy. So we decided to rent a car to explore the entirety of this beautiful island. We ended up with a white Toyota Corolla that was in very good shape for a rental. As a bonus it had the driver seat on the correct side (the one we’re used to in the US), but a sign that reminded drivers to keep left.

We found ourselves driving all through the island, starting down south and working our way back north. Since the island is so huge, this is the only way to really see it all. There was so much lush greenery around Salt Pond and Thompson Bay, but at one point it was all completely stripped and barren. This is obviously the start of where the hurricane left its mark. There were several ruins we explored along the way, most of them churches. Lots of debris, wood piles and garbage strewn about.

Clarence Town is one place we were most excited to visit. It was an overcast sort of day but we could still enjoy the beauty and grandeur of the many churches and homes. We could also see how much work still needs to be done since the hurricane. Its sad to see this town as a shell of its former self. In a way, it felt like we went back in time. There was something historic and parisian about this place. The stone archetypal buildings reminded me of pre-historic Europe. Absolutely beautiful even amongst the devastation.

We visited St. Peter & Paul’s Catholic Church, The Flying Fish Marina and other random dilapidated buildings. Some of them looked to be on the mend, but its a very slow process in the out-islands. We couldn’t help but fall in love with it even more.

Another fun side-trip was to Deans Blue Hole, which was only a few miles from Clarence Town. It was a bit of an off road trek but we managed to find our way. Unfortunately the weather was sub-par but that didn’t stop me from going for a swim. Good thing I brought my wetsuit! Jake opted to sit out and take pictures. Since it was cloudy, it was difficult to see down the deep parts but the shallows had tons of reef fish and coral. After an hour I was ready to dry off and keep on trucking.

Jake and I explored all of the southern end of Long Island before turning to make our way back up north. We stopped at several spots along the way to take pictures of more churches and ruins and other miscellaneous things. So much beauty in one little place.

The northern tip of the island boasts one of the most spectacular sights in all of the Bahamas. Cape Santa Maria inspired the sailing ship, The Santa Maria, by Christopher Columbus after his discovery of this magnificent place. Even though it was still overcast, the sight was marvelous. As we made our way to the nearby beaches, the sun came out and gave us some spectacular sights.

There is a small resort up here with no connectivity to the outside world (no internet, phones, radio, etc). A sort of exotic resort getaway from it all. It looked gorgeous but the really special part is the beach. The water here glows a magnificent bright blue that we have never seen anywhere else. It was fun to walk the deserted beach and soak up some sunshine.

The last area that we hoped to explore here is the old Adderly Plantation ruins. We followed instructions from the visitor’s guide and road signs, but found ourselves on a dirt road that was so thick and overgrown the car wouldn’t have it. Jake actually hiked around to investigate but soon realized it wasn’t happening. At least not with our little Corolla so we passed on this adventure.

One place we were DYING to go visit is a restaurant in Miller’s Bay, just a few miles north of Thompson Bay, called Chez Pierre. Its actually a beach resort and villa WITH a restaurant but it lies on a huge stretch of beach and jungle. The restaurant is more accessible by boat than by land, but since we had the car we figured why not. It was an off road trek similar to our last, but not so far or overgrown.

We found the place after a few wrong turns and parked in what felt like a deserted plot of land. There was a huge makeshift pier walkway that we followed which took us along the beach front and then up to the restaurant. When we arrived, there was only one other person dining, and she invited us to join her. Why not?

Pierre is from Canada and moved to the island many years ago to open his resort and restaurant. We planned to order some exotic french cuisine but after we saw the pizza we were compelled to get one for ourselves. While waiting for our food, we chatted with our new friend, Brenda. She was staying at the Cape Santa Maria resort and gave us a bit of her history and experience in the islands. Just visiting for a nice long week getaway before going back home.

Midway through her meal, Brenda called out to a man sitting on the patio. His name was Scofield, and apparently she had hired him to be her driver for the day. She invited him to join us and share in her food. It was so great to chat with him, as he was born and raised right here in Long Island. He told us all about the place and gave us lots of great information and places to check out (many of them we already did). In general he just seemed to be a very friendly fellow and I’m so glad we got to spend some time getting to know him and Brenda.

After our huge meal we had to get the car back to the shop and get ourselves back to Bosco.

The next few days passed in a bit of a haze. The bad weather came in and didn’t abate. So moving on was out of the question. I also tweaked my back during the night which left me in misery for a few days. Just moving around would be excruciating. Jake was in a general funk as well.

It can be VERY hard as a full-time cruiser at times because there is no escape from the bad stuff. There are no breaks from each other or from the nonstop work that must be done to maintain the boat. We have learned to avoid each other if one of us is in a bad mood, but that is almost impossible on many occasions. It was definitely one of those times now, where we had to find ways to occupy ourselves with small and simple things. Reading books is a great distraction. I found that doing some creative stuff with photography to be another.

We had to work very hard over these few days to get our mood out of the dumpster and back to a positive place. Thankfully the universe responded in kind, with a cruiser-gathering on the beach at the end of the week. Jake was eager to get off the boat, and I was eager for some quality alone time. I spent that time playing guitar (which I haven’t done in ages). It made both of us happy again.

Our very last day in Thompson bay came on February 29, 2016 – LEAP YEAR! Its also our anniversary of when we started dating – some 16 years ago! Holy cow. We didn’t do much of anything other than the last of provisioning and getting the boat ready for the next trek up to the north to Calabash Bay. It looked as if it would be perfect conditions for sailing (finally!!!!). Until then…